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In fracking hot spots, police and gas industry share intelligence on activists
In fracking hot spots, police and gas industry share intelligence on activists
2/2/15
Last month an anti-fracking group settled a lawsuit against Pennsylvania, after it was erroneously labeled a potential terrorist threat. The case dates back to 2010 and was an embarrassment for then-Governor Ed Rendell.
But documents obtained by StateImpact Pennsylvania show law enforcement here and in other parts of the country continue to conduct surveillance on anti-fracking activists, leading some to claim their Constitutional rights are being violated.
“This is scary”
...“My long history of political activism is on the left,” she says. “I am the author of books with titles like ‘On Marx’ if that gives you an idea.”
Anti-fracking activist and philosophy professor Wendy Lee sorts through photos she's taken at gas sites. Pa. State Police won't explain why a trooper came to her home to question her last year. They cited an ongoing criminal investigation.
She often travels to gas industry sites and takes photos. Her website is filled with criticism of fracking, and she’s used to getting criticized for her views.
Still, she was surprised last February when a Pennsylvania State Trooper came to her house to ask her about a visit she’d made to a gas compressor station.
On that trip, she was joined by two other activists and took some photos of the compressor. It wasn’t long before security guards told them all to leave.
“When they tell us to leave, we left,” she recalls. “There was no altercation. There was nothing.”
As the trooper stood inside her door, he questioned her about the incident. After a while, he brought up eco-terrorism.
Lee was stunned when he asked her if she knew anything about pipe bombs.
“Part of me was like, ‘Oh this is scary. This is actually scary.’” she says. “And part of me is just laughing on the inside because it’s ludicrous.”
Lee was never charged or arrested for anything.
It turns out that same Pennsylvania trooper had already crossed state lines and traveled to upstate New York to investigate the compressor incident. He visited 65-year-old Jeremy Alderson, one of the other activists with Lee that day.
When Alderson got a knock at his home in Hector, a New York trooper was there too....
Full article & audio HERE~
http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2015/02/02/in-fracking-hot-spots-police-and-gas-industry-share-intelligence-on-activists/
*May or may not be the original article
2/2/15
Last month an anti-fracking group settled a lawsuit against Pennsylvania, after it was erroneously labeled a potential terrorist threat. The case dates back to 2010 and was an embarrassment for then-Governor Ed Rendell.
But documents obtained by StateImpact Pennsylvania show law enforcement here and in other parts of the country continue to conduct surveillance on anti-fracking activists, leading some to claim their Constitutional rights are being violated.
“This is scary”
...“My long history of political activism is on the left,” she says. “I am the author of books with titles like ‘On Marx’ if that gives you an idea.”
Anti-fracking activist and philosophy professor Wendy Lee sorts through photos she's taken at gas sites. Pa. State Police won't explain why a trooper came to her home to question her last year. They cited an ongoing criminal investigation.
She often travels to gas industry sites and takes photos. Her website is filled with criticism of fracking, and she’s used to getting criticized for her views.
Still, she was surprised last February when a Pennsylvania State Trooper came to her house to ask her about a visit she’d made to a gas compressor station.
On that trip, she was joined by two other activists and took some photos of the compressor. It wasn’t long before security guards told them all to leave.
“When they tell us to leave, we left,” she recalls. “There was no altercation. There was nothing.”
As the trooper stood inside her door, he questioned her about the incident. After a while, he brought up eco-terrorism.
Lee was stunned when he asked her if she knew anything about pipe bombs.
“Part of me was like, ‘Oh this is scary. This is actually scary.’” she says. “And part of me is just laughing on the inside because it’s ludicrous.”
Lee was never charged or arrested for anything.
It turns out that same Pennsylvania trooper had already crossed state lines and traveled to upstate New York to investigate the compressor incident. He visited 65-year-old Jeremy Alderson, one of the other activists with Lee that day.
When Alderson got a knock at his home in Hector, a New York trooper was there too....
Full article & audio HERE~
http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2015/02/02/in-fracking-hot-spots-police-and-gas-industry-share-intelligence-on-activists/
*May or may not be the original article
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
And yet, although its proven in actual facts & events, this could be accused here as being a 'conspiracy theory'.
